Smoked Out
by otterhound
Summary: Charming, mysterious Smokefur lives a double life. To ThunderClan he's a great warrior who's loyal to his mate and kits. But he has a dark secret - he's a skilled assassin set on silently protecting his Clan.
1. hometown

smoked out

THUNDERCLAN

**Leader-** Brightstar – white she-cat

**Deputy-** Waterpelt- sandy tom

**Medicine Cat-** Speckledwing – speckled tabby tom

**Warriors-** Brownwhisker – brown tabby tom, yellow eyes

Windfang – pale yellow she-cat

Amberwind – reddish brown tom, amber eyes

Foxpelt – gray tabby she-cat

Dewstripe – dark mottled tabby tom

Blackstripe – smoky black she-cat

Rednose – reddish tabby tom

Smokefur – jet black tom, green eyes

**Apprentices**- Sunpaw – dark ginger she-cat

Robinpaw – black and white tom

Mosspaw – grayish she-cat

**Queens-** Dawnleaf – small calico she-cat, blue eyes

Skyfeather – pure white she-cat

Stonepool – gray tabby she-cat

SHADOWCLAN

**Leader** – Leafstar – calico she-cat, very long tail

**Deputy-** Iceblaze– pure white tom

**Medicine Cat**- Blackwing – smoky black she-cat

**Warriors **– Sandfrost – sandy brown she-cat

Moonwing – silver gray tom

Greenwhisker – ginger she-cat, bright green eyes

Spottedpelt – patchy tabby tom

**Apprentices**- Dustpaw – dusty gray tom

Thistlepaw – bright ginger tom

**Queens-** Thornwind – dark tabby she-cat

WINDCLAN

**Leader-** Heatherstar – gray tabby tom

**Deputy-** Dreamwhisker- long-haired white she-cat

**Medicine cat-** Daisyleaf – pretty tabby she-cat

**Warriors-** Rosepool – long haired dark gray she-cat

Shadowpuddle – blue-gray she-cat

Waveclaw – dark gray tom

Mousefoot – brown tabby tom

Marshfall – very dark gray tom

**Apprentices-** Jaypaw – smoky black she-cat, amber eyes

Duskpaw – pale ginger tom

Graypaw – smoky black she-cat, Jaypaw's sister

**Queens-** Wildflower – pretty calico she-cat

RIVERCLAN

**Leader-** Fallenstar – ginger she-cat

**Deputy-** Brackenflood – dark brown and gray tabby tom

**Medicine cat-** Skunklilly – black and white tom

**Warriors-** Streamclaw – silver gray tom

Sagewind – pale tabby she-cat

Clovertail – pretty gray she-cat

Bonewing – huge white tom

Brookfeather – lithe black and white tom

Cedarbreeze – dark ginger tom

Frostfur – silver and white she-cat

**Apprentices-** Hailpaw- small silver tom

Mudpaw – pale brown she-cat

Flamepaw – brilliant ginger tom

**Queens –** Ashwhisker – black she-cat, white paws

Thornstripe – dark ginger she-cat

ONE

"I'm tumbling. I'm falling. Sometimes, I imagine I am falling."

"Where are you falling from?"

"The top of a cliff, higher than any cat could imagine. Far beyond comprehension."

"That sounds concerning."

"It does. It does. I wouldn't so much say it concerns me, but maybe Dawnleaf. I so much as bat an eye and she worries."

"You think she notices anything?"

"Oh, she does. She-cats notice everything. What is it, Speckledwing? What is it with them where the more silence you provide, the less you say, the more worked up they seem to become nonetheless?"

"They're she-cats, Smokefur. I think that about answers the question."

Smokefur laughed and rolled onto his feet. "Well said, my friend."

"I put some cobwebs on your cut paw. In a bit the swelling should go down and you should be able to attend the Gathering tonight." Speckledwing was digging through his herbs, his tail curled around his paws. "Anything else bothering you?"

"No, just the paw. Damn thorns."

"I mean mentally. How's your emotional health?"

Smokefur walked closer behind him, and Speckledwing looked over his shoulder, mouth parted in slight surprise. "Emotions, Speckledwing? Never heard of 'em."

Speckledwing's whiskers twitched. "Have a good evening, Smokefur," he mewed.

A brand new sunset was spreading over the ThunderClan camp, lots of orange and yellow and deep, melancholy reds. The pelts of every cat gleamed with good health and abundant food, the spoils of Greenleaf. Smokefur emerged into the activity from the medicine cat's den. A jet black tom with a long, tapering tail and a strong set of shoulders. A handsome face, a muscular body, long, pointed ears.

"Evening, Smokefur," Blackstripe, a smoky colored she-cat mewed as she hurried past with her apprentice Mosspaw, who's jaws were laden with fresh-kill.

"Blackstripe," Smokefur said elegantly, with a nod. "Have you seen Dawnleaf?"

Blackstripe flicked her tail at the nursery. "Same as always."

Smokefur crossed the ThunderClan camp, mewing his greetings to his Clanmates, who purred their approval at the sight of him. He'd brought in nearly half the fresh-kill sitting on the pile an hour ago, and the Clan was benefiting his spoils heartily. Even Brightstar, the leader, meowed her praise from where she was sitting beside the Highledge. He ducked inside the nursery where he could hear the squabbling of kits among their mothers' soft meows. Here was where Dawnleaf lay, his beautiful mate, her belly so swollen she had to lie awkwardly on her side, tail tip flicking.

"Hey there." He touched his nose to hers and Dawnleaf purred. "How was your day?"

She sighed, rolling farther onto her back. "Just stomach pains, the usual. I hope these suckers aren't planning on staying in there too much longer."

"Everything in its time," Smokefur purred. "I nabbed you a mouse from the fresh-kill pile on my way over here. Wanna share?"

"You know me too well," Dawnleaf meowed, as the two tucked into the mouse. "Skyfeather over there said everyone's been talking up your great hunt today."

"I'd say four squirrels is definitely something worth talking up," Smokefur laughed.

"Oh, don't be bragging." Dawnleaf nuzzled her ear against his chest. "I missed you."

He lay down beside his mate, curling his body around hers, purring delight at her warmth and the soft tickle of her thick calico fur. "Me too."

"StarClan, _yuck_," exclaimed a new voice, and Smokefur glanced up to see Sunpaw, the two's eldest daughter, peering into the nursery. "I wanted to share a vole with you two but it seems you're pretty preoccupied."

"Get in here, you," Smokefur meowed, and Sunpaw trotted eagerly over to her parents, carrying a shrew in her jaws. She was as beautiful as her mother, her dark ginger coat sleek and gleaming. She'd been the only kit from Dawnleaf's first litter twelve moons ago but she'd grown big and strong and was rapidly becoming one of the best hunters in ThunderClan, taking after her father.

"Dad, are you going to the Gathering tonight?" Sunpaw asked, chomping on shrew bones.

"Oh, I'm not sure," Smokefur purred, absently nuzzling under Dawnleaf's soft ear.

"Well, did Brightstar ask you to come? She asked me! This'll be my second. And guess what, I'm the only apprentice that gets to go."

"I suppose she asked. I think I should stay home and get some rest, that's all. That thorn bush really tore up my paw, and I just visited Speckledwing and he told me I should rest."

"A little thorn keeping the greatest hunter in the forest from attending the gathering? Pah!" Sunpaw laughed, spraying bits of shrew everywhere. "I swear I don't even know you, dad."

Dawnleaf wrinkled her nose in distaste as bits of fresh-kill landed in her fur and turned to Smokefur. "You never go."

Smokefur stood up, stretching his back. "I do sometimes. I'm just always so tired. But you'll have fun, Sunpaw. Tell me all about it tomorrow. Bye, love."

Dawnleaf stretched up her neck to touch their noses again. She looked just a little disappointed that her mate was leaving so quickly. "Sleep well."

As soon as Smokefur was out into the camp, nearly dark now, Brightstar and deputy Waterpelt called him over with a flick of their tails. He trotted to where they stood in the shade of the Highledge.

"Smokefur, did you happen to smell anything strange while you were out hunting by the ShadowClan border?" Brightstar asked.

"I didn't," Smokefur said slowly. "Why?"

"Leafstar issued another threat. Says if we don't give her the stream she'll start attacking our border patrols."

"That's concerning. But didn't she already? She had a patrol kill one of ours just last moon."

"That's what I'm thinking," Brightstar growled. "I'm anxious. Hopefully we can settle things at the Gathering tonight, because this can't go on. Not when leaf-fall sets in. Are you coming tonight?"

Smokefur flicked an ear. "Speckledwing told me I should stay home and rest. I cut my paw, see."

"Ah. Of course. That's a shame. But nice work today. It's been moons since everyone was this well fed."

Smokefur smiled a tiny smile. "Thank you."

He retreated to the warriors' den. He was looking forward to the Clan leaving because he liked the peace and quiet and he really was tired after hunting for so long. But the appraisal felt nice, and seeing Dawnleaf so well fed and smiling was what fueled him. He curled up and closed his eyes, listening to the soft sounds of the Clan assembling for the Gathering. His peaceful trance was interrupted by the sound of a cat crashing into the warriors den. Smokefur's eyes flew open to see Robinpaw, one of the apprentices, staggering to his feet, face red with embaressment.

"You're not allowed in here," Smokefur growled.

"Sorry. Yep. Sorry. I just was…I got lost."

"Go make yourself useful."

"Yep." Tripping over himself, Robinpaw scrambled out of the den.

Robinpaw was a poor apprentice. He did badly in training, could barely hunt, wasn't coordinated enough to become proficient at battle moves. Often the Clan spoke ill of him behind his back, even his mentor, Windfang. He had difficulty making friends except for Sunpaw, for reasons beyond Smokefur; the two were very close pals.

Smokefur got a wink of sleep, and then woke up by choice after the Clan had left for the Gathering a good while ago. The camp was silver in moonlight and empty except for Rednose, a young tom guarding the camp and yawning sleepily.

"Can't sleep," Smokefur mewed softly as he left the camp, and Rednose just nodded.

It was a brisk, cool walk to ShadowClan territory. The forest was always especially quiet when the Clans were all at the island for the Gathering, and Smokefur was completely silent. He hopped over the stream into ShadowClan's territory, strolling along the border closer to the lake. From behind a tree a she-cat emerged, small and sandy brown. She looked back and forth and then stepped up to him, traced her nose along the side of his face.

"Nightwind," she whispered. "I missed you."

Smokefur purred deep in chest and wrapped his body around hers. "You look nice, Sandfrost."

"As do you, like always," the ShadowClan cat giggled, gleaming in the moonlight. "I was waiting a while."

"An apprentice crashed into my den, delaying my nap."

"Ugh." Sandfrost swished her tail. "You wanna walk? The lake is so beautiful right now, and it's so warm."

"Maybe…" they strolled slowly through the trees of ShadowClan territory, their bodies pressed together.

"How are things in ThunderClan?" she asked softly.

"The same. I'd say we're flourishing. Lots of fresh-kill."

"Yeah? Any new kits?"

"Nope." Smokefur gently touched the top of her forehead. "And no pregnant queens, either. But the time will come."

"I bet you're looking at all the ThunderClan she-cats," she teased. "When you don't get to see me. There's not anybody too cute, right?"

"Nobody," Smokefur smiled. "Only you, Sandfrost. Let's stop here. I'd rather not walk too close to the lake."

They stopped. They found a hollow in the ground and lay side by side in the grass, gazing up toward Silverpelt. "How is ShadowClan?" he mused.

"We're…this and that. Leafstar is so annoying. She gets mad at everyone for anything. If I so much as let a mouse get away, she gets on my tail for it."

"Oh yes, Leafstar. The whole forest's talking about her."

"I miss Barkstar. I know I was just a kit when he was leader, but Leafstar's just…unbearable."

"How many lives would you guess she's got left?"

"Seven? She mentioned it, once. But maybe she's lost more since then."

"When did she mention it?"

"A moon ago?"

"Ah."

"She always talks about wanting to attack ThunderClan. Because our borders are so close, right. And when she does I always think about you and I get so worried."

"You don't need to worry about me," Smokefur purred.

"But I do, Nightwind. I think about you and I miss you."

He licked the top of her forehead. "Does she have any concrete plans?"

"Something this moon. She wants to take out your border patrols. To send a message, and if you guys don't give her some territory she'll wage full war."

"She killed a warrior of ours last moon," Smokefur said darkly. "A young cat, marking the border. That was message enough. She needs to back off."

"Well maybe you should try talking to her yourself," Sandfrost grumbled, flipping onto her stomach. "I like this, Nightwind. I love seeing you. There's nobody like you in ShadowClan."

"I should hope not," Smokefur chuckled. She leaned forward to touch their noses together, whiskers twitching. "What does Leafstar do most of the day?"

"She loves taking long, long patrols with her best warriors. All day, everyday. She never lets younger warriors like me go, though."

"So she doesn't spend too much time alone?"

"She spends forever making dirt at moonhigh, hahaha. Behind her den. Bet it smells like a stinkhole over there."

"She killed one of our own," Smokefur said quietly, closing his eyes. Sandfrost curled next to him. "She killed a ThunderClan warrior."

Sandfrost was too content to say anything, too in love with Smokefur to bother censoring her words. Her eyes were sparkling as she gazed at him. Smokefur spent the night with her, murmuring together as the moon followed its path across the starry sky. He wondered about the Gathering, remembering the one time in his life he'd ever gone. He roused himself from Sandfrost's warm side before dawn interrupted the stars, nuzzled her goodbye. She clung to him, her eyes wistful and longing. He promised to see her again, and then trotted back into ThunderClan and sprinted back to his den, crashing in similarly to how Robinpaw had that evening.

Brightstar, heading her Clan as they returned from the Gathering, immediately called a Clan meeting, rousing any sleeping cats from their dens. Smokefur walked into the camp, yawning and stretching as if he'd been asleep. Brightstar's voice was full of urgency and there was fear in the faces of the cats who'd attended the Gathering. Dawnleaf anxiously ran to Smokefur's side and he curled protectively around her.

"Leafstar has told us she will be wiping out all of our border patrols if she sees them along the border," Brightstar announced grimly. "She wants to push the ShadowClan border deep into our territory. ThunderClan will not stand for this. Our territory is ours, our Clan is large and we need our hunting grounds to sustain ourselves. From now on, patrols will be twice as large and twice as frequent. Apprentices will be trained in battle only for the time being. Defending our border is our top priority. We are strong, healthy, and many. There is no reason we should fear ShadowClan and Leafstar's poor judgment."

"What is_ wrong_ with her?" Yowled Amberwind, a reddish warrior. "Ever since she became leader, Leafstar's been nothing but trouble. All she does is steal territory and kill warriors without reason."

"The death she caused last month was devastating, yes," Brightstar agreed, trying to calm down the throng before Amberwind got them too worked up. "But we will not let her do the same to anyone else."

"But she's so young, she'll be ShadowClan leader for _moons!"_ Skyfeather, a queen, shrieked. "That means we'll have to be dealing with her crimes for a long, long time! How is that fair?"

"The best way of resolving this is with calm and reason," Brightstar said. "We are cats with integrity, we will not become barbaric the way Leafstar is. I trust StarClan will guide our path and protect us."

The Clan was not soothed, but there was nothing else to discuss. Smokefur calmed Dawnleaf, who was whimpering anxiously into his fur. "It'll be okay," he whispered into her pretty triangular ears. "I'll be here to protect you. Nothing will ever happen to you."

The following day Smokefur woke early, hunted for the Clan, staying away from the ShadowClan border, which was crawling with ThunderClan patrols. He brought back several kills, making sure the ThunderClan cats saw him doing so. At sunset he returned to the forest and started the hunt.

There were the deathberries, of course. Hanging on their bush closer to the WindClan border. But Smokefur knew they would be too far to carry. Too much. No, no…

He sharpened his claws on a tree. Sharp as he could get them. Alone in the forest, he traveled in complete silence, scrounging over the moss and the brambles and the soft green grass. He was running the words Sandfrost had told him during their night together over and over in his mind. Deathberries wouldn't work, his claws weren't enough.

Smokefur found his answer after nearly tripping over the protuberant roots of an oak tree. He doubled back, nose to the ground, and explored the roots, the way they traveled over the ground before disappearing into it and splintering off smaller and smaller. He located one of the longest, thinnest roots he could, tore it free, and buried it under the tree. He sat beside it and waited still and silent for moonhigh.

The forest quieted. Night had a way of doing that. Cats, as silent as they were, still were quite noisy when they trampled through the forest together. Smokefur loved silence above anything. He closed his eyes to savor it for a minute. It was a tradition of his to feel the complete and total peace of silence before taking any action. As the moon rose, he calmly dug the root out, located a patch of foxdung to roll in and mask his ThunderClan sent and, silent and swift, he paced straight for ShadowClan territory.

There was a ShadowClan patrol near the stream. They were noisy. The vast majority of Clan cats hadn't discovered the true tool silence was like Smokefur had. He figured he could be the scrawniest, weakest, poorest fighter in the forest and still always have the upper hand with his ability to utilize silence. He whisked past right under their noses and nobody twitched a whisker.

The root was a bit of a problem. It dragged on the ground, it swatted at trees, it wrapped around bushes and branches. Smokefur had to move slower than he would have liked. But he did not stop. He barely became breathless all the way to the ShadowClan camp.

It wasn't the first time he'd been here. Smokefur had been everywhere. Nothing was new to him, nothing was undiscovered. He knew the mossy log that rested outside the camp, behind the leader's den. It sat in its long-time spot underneath a small oak tree with long, low-hanging branches.

He climbed the tree. It was mossy and the bark was rough, so it was almost too easy. He tied one end of the root around one of the low branches with his teeth and hopped back down to the forest floor. Holding the other end of the root softly in his teeth, Smokefur lay behind the mossy log and waited for a long time.

Like Sandfrost's big, naive mouth had exposed last night, as soon as the moon was highest in the sky, the thickets rustled and there was Leafstar, reeking of ShadowClan and fresh-kill, mumbling to herself as she scrounged behind the camp, preparing to make dirt.

Smokefur hopped onto the log. Leafstar's back was to him, scratching around on the ground. He snuck closer. "Leafstar," he said as softly as he could.

She whipped around. Standing right behind her, Smokefur immediately sprang onto her back, wrapping the root around her neck in the process. He pulled on it as hard as he could as Leafstar gasped and choked and struggled to speak, held still by the root laced around her neck as if it was a collar and leash.

"Is there a reason," Smokefur said calmly, "To kill young ThunderClan warriors in cold blood?"

"Cold blood," Leafstar wheezed, so Smokefur pulled even tighter until she couldn't speak.

"Your territory is yours," he said. "And ours is ours. ThunderClan blood will not be shed because of your incompetence." He leaned closer to her face. "I'm here to protect my Clan, Leafstar. I am Nightwind, and I am the most dangerous cat in the forest."

Leafstar's body shook and went limp as she lost a life, and Smokefur knew now was his chance. Clinging to the end of the root, he scrambled back into the tree and tied the other end beside the first, pulling as hard as he could to hoist her body off the ground. She was beyond heavy, heavier than he'd anticipated, and she was already awakening into her next life by the time he'd managed to tie the root. She shook and gurgled and flailed, but there was nothing around her she could reach. Smokefur leaped out of the tree and moved into her eye line.

"I think StarClan will find seven lives don't matter so much if they can't untie you hanging from a tree."

There was a noise, a noise other than the sound of Leafstar asphyxiating to death over and over again. Smokefur looked past her hanging body. There was a cat's eyes watching him, shocked and enormous, from the thickets several tail lengths away. It was Robinpaw, that reckless apprentice who'd interrupted Smokefur's nap yesterday. He noisily kicked dead leaves into the air in his haste to spin around and leave.

Robinpaw ran.

Leafstar choked.

Smokefur left.


	2. at the bottom of the sea

TWO

Oh no.

Not this.

Smokefur was running.

This can't happen.

But there was only so far he could run. Smokefur staggered to a stop at the ShadowClan border. From here, the sounds of Leafstar's gruesome and repetitive death were drowned out by the hum of the forest.

That apprentice!

He skidded in the leaves, spun around, tried to find a solution. The apprentice. Leafstar hanging. Smokefur hanging Leafstar. The apprentice watching. The apprentice running away.

"No, no!" Smokefur hissed, and now he was sprinting, flying across the mossy ground of ThunderClan territory. There was Smokefur, there was the ThunderClan camp full of unknowing, slumbering cats, and between the two was Robinpaw, fleeing just like Smokefur was.

"Robinpaw!" Smokefur shouted at the top of his lungs. His voice bounced through the trees. The best way to deal with this was confront Robinpaw head on, right? Intimidate him, so he was too afraid to get into camp and let his big, stupid mouth spill what he'd seen. "Robinpaw! I know you can hear me!"

Robinpaw was just a clumsy apprentice, he didn't have the gift of stealth and speed the way Smokefur did. It was only moments until Smokefur saw the apprentice sprinting through the forest, tail puffed up in fear, claws splayed. He was kicking dirt and leaves everywhere. Like a badger. Smokefur would have stopped to shake his head in dismay if his heart wasn't racing so fast.

"Robinpaw!" Smokefur bellowed, shooting after him. Robinpaw looked over his shoulder, saw the black warrior bearing down on him, and ran even faster, smacked into a thicket, and turned upside down. He scrambled over the ground desperately as Smokefur skidded to a stop behind him.

"Get away from me, mouse-brain!" Robinpaw spit. He started to run but Smokefur put his paw on his tail. "Let me go, come on!"

"Why were you in ShadowClan territory?" Smokefur snarled.

Robinpaw gazed into Smokefur's eyes. His were big and round and bright yellow. His mouth hung open as he gasped for breath from their reckless dash through the forest. "Why were you?" He echoed fearfully.

Smokefur was silent for a long time, trying to decide what to say. This brat. This stupid, delinquent apprentice. "What you saw wasn't what you think you saw," he tried.

"Sorry?" Robinpaw shouted. Smokefur hissed at him to keep his voice down. "I watched you hang some cat up in a tree! What in StarClan?!"

"Why were you in ShadowClan territory?" Smokefur growled again. _"Apprentice?"_

"I – I don't know," Robinpaw stammered. "I go there sometimes."

"You're a ThunderClan apprentice. What makes you think you'd be allowed in another Clan's territory, and at that, a Clan ThunderClan is in a rivalry with?"

"I didn't know, I don't keep up with that stuff," Robinpaw mewled. "I just like exploring."

"StarClan, did your mother drop you on your head when you were born? Does your mentor teach you nothing?"

"No, she hates me," Robinpaw mumbled. "Wait a second, why am I talking to you? Who the hell _are _you? What were you doing?"

"It's not – it's not any of your business," Smokefur snapped. "Just forget what you saw. What can I give you to make you just walk into the camp as if none of this ever happened."

"I don't want anything," Robinpaw meowed loudly. "I want you to stay away from me. I don't know who you are, even. Why should I trust you now?"

"I'm a ThunderClan warrior, you can trust me! I'd give a leg for this Clan!"

"Then why were you in ShadowClan killing that cat? Who was that, what were they doing? Like, dying over and over – oh StarClan, was that _Leafstar? The leader_?"

"It doesn't matter who it was. It's none of your business." Smokefur narrowed his eyes. "I would advise you forget this ever happened, if you know what's best for you."

"Just – just stay away from me," Robinpaw mewed, his voice shaking. He yanked his tail out from Smokefur's grip, turned and started to run for camp, looking continuously over his shoulder all the way.

What now?

Robinpaw was notorious among the Clan for his big mouth – all he did was screw things up, spill secrets, make inappropriate remarks. And now it was Robinpaw, _Robinpaw,_ this incompetent, screw up of an apprentice that threatened to topple everything Smokefur had built himself into for years and years.

Smokefur hadn't always taken to killing other Clan cats. As an apprentice he was just as wide-eyed and eager as any other. Always wanted to prove himself, excited to become the best warrior in the forest.

But as he'd grown older he'd realized there had to be a cat looking out for ThunderClan – a guarding spirit, of sorts. Nobody would ever know, nobody ever _had _to know, but it would be Smokefur who kept his Clan from harm they could otherwise not deal with themselves.

Smokefur didn't need recognition. He didn't need Brightstar to pat his back and tell him how great he was for saving their Clan and protecting them from harm like no one else could. He broke the warrior code to protect his Clan – but he did only for good reason. All he needed was to see Dawnleaf's beautiful face and hear the innocent purrs of his kits. As long as the cats he loved were smiling, that was enough.

But this…this.

This was too much. For moons and moons nobody had so much batted an eye at Smokefur, never pegged him as anything more than a great hunter, a loyal warrior, and loving father. A good warrior to have in ThunderClan. Respected and liked by everyone, close to no one. Smokefur was the smartest warrior in the forest, the most cunning, the stealthiest, and he was always beyond careful covering his tracks. Nobody had ever seen him do anything to any cat.

And now this joke of an apprentice was what could topple all of that in an instant.

Smokefur didn't sleep that night. He hunted until dawn, hunted as much as he could and then more. He was exhausted and starving and reeling from the graphic images of Leafstar's violent end in his brain. He was so caught up in Robinpaw's discovery of his double life that he had forgotten to reflect on the kill he'd made.

Smokefur stumbled into camp, weighed down by squirrels, and dropped them heavily on the fresh-kill pile.

"Great work, Smokefur!" said Waterpelt, awake with the dawn, patting his shoulder with his tail tip.

"Yes, thanks…" Smokefur muttered. He stared into one of the glassy dead eyes of a hare he'd caught. Death. If Robinpaw was dead, there would be no conceivable way for him to tell anyone about what he'd seen in ShadowClan territory last night.

Robinpaw would never in a million moons see Smokefur coming.

He couldn't believe he was thinking like this.

Robinpaw was a ThunderClan cat – one of the cats he was trying to protect. It would be backward to kill him. It would go against every moral code Smokefur lived by.

But he also had to protect his secret. He had to protect_ himself._

"Dad!"

It was Sunpaw. She flounced from the apprentice's den, spying him staring with such intensity into the eyes of the dead rabbit. "Hey, baby," he purred to his daughter, trying to smother his anxiety, his trembling tail tip. "You're up early."

"I've got my first assessment today," she said. "Wish me luck!"

"Psh, you don't need luck."

She nuzzled against him, bouncing on her paws. "Hey, have you seen Robinpaw? He wasn't in the den last night."

"Uh – oh," Smokefur mewed, stiffening. "No, I haven't."

"I hope he's not missing," Sunpaw mewled. "I wanted to show him the squirrel I caught last night."

"If I see him I'll let you know," Smokefur said with apprehension. She bounced off to Brownwhisker, her waiting mentor.

Flanked by her senior warriors, Brightstar swept into camp and bounded onto the Highledge. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

On stiff legs, Smokefur ambled over. Brightstar's tail was puffed up, her eyes were round and circled with stress. "Cats of ThunderClan," she spoke, "Leafstar is reported dead."

"What?" Yowled Dewstripe, another warrior.

"I have spoken with ShadowClan's deputy, Iceblaze. He will be traveling to the Moonpool tomorrow. Leafstar's body was found hung in a tree just outside camp. Nobody knows what to make of it."

"What?" Dawnleaf whispered; she'd come to sit beside Smokefur with her swollen belly. "How?"

"A barbaric murder," Brightstar said clearly. "There was no recognizable scent of a culprit. ShadowClan is shaken, as is every Clan."

"But this gets rid of our problem!" Amberwind called. He looked around at the Clan for agreement. "She was going to butcher everything. And if she's dead, we don't have to worry about her anymore."

"That's true. Iceblaze has agreed to a truce with ThunderClan. The ShadowClan threat has been resolved." Brightstar slowly surveyed her entire Clan. "But Leafstar was still young, and only a new leader. She has had her chance to grow and mature stolen from her in her horrible death. Out of respect, the forest will mourn her."

"We want to know what happened!" Amberwind yowled. "If someone's going around hanging cats in trees, shouldn't we be scared too? What about the queens?"

"Everyone should be alert, especially at night," Brightstar meowed. "There are no answers as to what happened to Leafstar, but it was obviously horrific. Clearly someone wanted to take all her remaining lives in one move…but we don't know who this cat was."

Dawnleaf shuddered and pressed against Smokefur for support. He nervously licked the top of her calico head.

"I recommend we stay alert as a Clan for the next moon. We should celebrate that the ShadowClan threat is gone, but we should still travel in large patrols and watch our backs. Clan dismissed."

The Clan dispersed, but they were talking eagerly with each other. Amberwind, his usual loud self, was already gathering a small throng around him. "All I'm concerned with is that Leafstar is gone. It's a good thing. She was nuts. Whoever murdered her deserves a pat on the back. Honestly, I think maybe we've got some cat looking out for us."

Smokefur would have smiled if he wasn't thinking about Robinpaw so exclusively. He hadn't been there for the assembly.

Smokefur wandered into the forest.

Head down, eyes lowered, staring at the ferns and thickets without seeing them.

His paws silent and soft on the ground.

What he really needed was some time to think, some time to think and think and solve this problem. And Robinpaw was away now, which meant he was presently not a threat. Who knew where the apprentice was, maybe scrounging around in another place where he shouldn't be.

Smokefur went all the way to the lake.

There was a spot here, closer to WindClan territory, where old, wet branches and logs had accumulated at the bank in a little grove where the ground was steeper. It made a sort of cage, almost, and if a cat wasn't careful they could slip inside and struggle to get out. Smokefur crept here, hopped on top of the mesh of swollen branches and balanced himself neatly. He gazed out at the lake where it was full of sun and continuous, swelling ripples. Far away was the island where the Gathering had taken place last night, adjacent to RiverClan territory. Smokefur let the sun bathe his black fur.

If he didn't do anything about Robinpaw seeing him kill Leafstar, Robinpaw could squeal on him. And that could easily lead to exile. Smokefur was a very secretive cat – he prided himself in his secrecy, in his ability to hide so much from his Clan and loved ones while still caring about them so much. If the murder of Leafstar was exposed, other things could be as well. It wasn't the first time a Clan cat had "mysteriously" died at Smokefur's paw. If those blew up, everything else would unravel.

But to kill Robinpaw would be something else entirely. Smokefur was definitely a killer, he'd learned how to detach his emotions from his actions to get such gratuitous jobs done. But Robinpaw was kin, he was ThunderClan blood, he was one of the cats Smokefur was set on protecting, no matter how shabby of an apprentice he was.

He decided to make a list, a list of reasons not to kill Robinpaw, and a list of reasons to kill him.

First, the nots.

"He's kin," Smokefur said aloud.

"I work to protect ThunderClan."

"He's my daughter's best friend."

"He's an innocent apprentice."

"He's never done any wrongdoing."

"He's never hurt any cat."

And then…

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself."

His heart was palpitating by the time he was done speaking his piece. This was all so much. He moved on to the reasons why.

"He will tell someone."

Smokefur paused for a long, long time, running every possible situation through his head.

"I will be exiled from ThunderClan and I will lose everyone I've ever loved."

As darkness encircled him and corrupted his thoughts, as the world around Smokefur was colored gray and hopeless, he suddenly had a new thought.

Why had Robinpaw been in ShadowClan territory?

If he was really stupid enough to wander freely into an enemy Clan's territory like that, would he maybe be stupid enough to do other things as well?  
Smokefur had his ways of sneaking into other Clan's territory, he had his careful, honed ways of gathering information about them as well, about his chosen target. But maybe Robinpaw's stupid was what he needed. Robinpaw was reckless, he clearly didn't think about his actions. Just maybe, Smokefur could use him as the perfect mule.

Smokefur started running, following near the WindClan border, head down to try and snatch Robinpaw's scent. He traveled for a long time before he caught it, fairly stale but glaringly obvious, crossing straight into WindClan territory. Smokefur hopped into the freezing stream to wash his scent off; he was always so careful, and then followed it into the grassy moor.

He spied Robinpaw comically trying to hunt a rabbit, crouched down with his rump in the air, his black and white tail swinging wildly. The rabbit spied him, ran, and Robinpaw raced after it, slipped in damp earth, and fell on his face.

When he looked up, Smokefur was already right there.

"StarClan!" He shouted, toppling over in his surprise even more.

"Nice catch," Smokefur growled sarcastically.

"Shut up," Robinpaw snapped. "Why are you _here?!_ Leave me alone!"  
"As your superior," Smokefur meowed dangerously, "I am ordering you to get out of WindClan territory."

Robinpaw trotted quickly toward the border, ears back. Smokefur followed close behind as they tumbled into the woods together.

"Robinpaw," Smokefur growled, rounding on the black and white apprentice. "If you speak a word to anyone about what you saw in ShadowClan territory, I will tell them I found you in WindClan territory."

"Why should I be scared of that?" He snapped. "If I breathe a word about the kind of sick cat you are, you're going to be out of this forest before you can say _mouse_."

Smokefur let a silence sit between them for a bit.

"Then if you tell anybody, I will kill you."

Robinpaw was silent and terrified. "Listen, I don't want any trouble…just leave me alone."

"Robinpaw, why are you so uncaring about being a warrior?" He asked thoughtfully.

"I am caring. I'm so caring. Look at me."

"Don't lie to me, little cat. The entire Clan badmouths you and your poor training marks. They say you can't even catch a shrew."

"Well, nobody really likes me," he mewed, ears flat. "Sunpaw's my only friend. My mentor makes fun of me because I'm so clumsy."

"But you don't feel the urge to protect your Clan? Or hunt for them?"

"Not so much…why should I."

"Hmm," Smokefur muttered. He stood and started to walk.

"Listen, I don't care if you tell anyone I was in WindClan territory," Robinpaw mewed after him. "I don't care what happens to me in this Clan."

"If you don't care, that's why I can't trust you. If you don't care, what reason do you have not to tell anyone what you saw in ShadowClan last night?"

"Why don't you tell me what that was?" Robinpaw said loudly. "Who's Nightwind?"

"I am Nightwind," Smokefur said quietly. "I tell any cat I communicate with outside of ThunderClan my name is Nightwind. That way, nobody can use my real name against me."

"But…why?" Robinpaw mewled. "Why kill a cat like that? Who are you to decide who lives and who dies?"

"Everything I do, I do for this Clan," Smokefur snarled. "I have saved ThunderClan from pending danger countless times, singlehandedly, and nobody has never known or will ever know."

"You do that…often?" Robinpaw gasped, appalled.

"More than once…yes."

"You're, like, an assassin. Wow! No way!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"I always thought you were just a fuddy-duddy old cat puttering around with your silly mate."

"Excuse me?"

"So you just kill the bad cats?"

"I kill cats that have wronged ThunderClan, that have killed our own unfairly or in cold blood. Or cats that present a near and real danger."

Robinpaw started walking toward camp.

"I need to know I can trust you to keep quiet!" Smokefur shouted after him.

"Who cares what I do?" Robinpaw said over his shoulder, looking put out. "Nobody in the Clan does, that's for sure."

Smokefur cursed after he disappeared. But this time it was not with the same panic he'd had last night, because now it was clear to Smokefur what he had to do.

Robinpaw's mentor was Windfang, a young warrior with a sharp tongue and snarky personality, and Smokefur could see why the two would not be a good fit. Smokefur tailed Windfang. Far behind, in the trees, watched her travel through the forest, hunting, sometimes with other cats, somehow without. Deep into the woods he followed her, ever so slowly growing closer and closer until it was sunset and the forest was turning cool. He snuck closer while she dug a hole to bury prey for later.

Silent, his paws flicked over the ground as he dashed up to her and sprang upon her neck. "I'm sorry," he whispered into one of her pale ginger ears, sinking his teeth into her spine. "I have to do this. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

Her body jerked once, but the severance of the nerves in her snapped neck killed her instantly and painlessly. Her body melted beneath him, soft and small and still warm. With his eyes closed and his breath held tensely in his throat, Smokefur eased her body into the hole she'd dug for the prey, curled her up and buried her, packing the dirt down with his paws to ensure she was well hidden. He dragged dead moss and leaves over the spot with his teeth and rubbed his scent everywhere to cover hers.

Smokefur strode home to camp covered in clumps of dirt and guilt.

The disappearance of Windfang was quickly brought to everyone's attention. Within a day search patrols were swarming ThunderClan territory, and Smokefur watched with silent remorse as his Clan was swept with worry, mumbling to each other, fearing for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones, not understanding.

"You're gone so much," Dawnleaf said when he sat with her in the nursery later for dinner. The nursery was empty, it was just the two of them and their unborn children in her stomach. "You come home so late."

"I'm so busy hunting," he muttered.

"I worry about you."

Dawnleaf was tense and melancholy, she was greatly affected by Windfang's creepy disappearance so soon after the abhorrent murder of Leafstar. When Dawnleaf was sad it was written all over her face, it was held in her body and colored in her fur. She was a cat of much emotion, she couldn't lie, she was sensitive to the feelings of everyone around her. Tonight she picked at the vole Smokefur had brought her and wouldn't look up at him.

"Dawnleaf, I'm sorry," he whispered.

"I wouldn't want anything to happen to you," with her paws trembling.

"You know I'm safe, love."

"Sometimes I – sometimes I think of you, you know. When I'm lying here feeling the kits kick. I think of how much I want you to come home. I wouldn't…want them to never meet their father. I wouldn't want you to just be a story I told them."

"Love, love," Smokefur purred very quietly, stretching his face toward hers to try and get her to look up at him. "Love, look at my face. Look at how safe I am."

She met his eyes and nodded tersely.

"I'm out there protecting you, that's what. Just think of that. I'm protecting you. I'm protecting Sunpaw." He touched his tail tip to the side of her swollen stomach. "I'm protecting them."

She seemed somewhat comforted, but Dawnleaf was a smart cat, and her feelings weren't easily dismissed. Before she'd become a queen the Clan had relied on her for her intuition. It was almost like she had a sixth sense, she sensed something was coming before it did. Quite a few toms had followed her about before she'd chosen Smokefur as a mate.

When Windfang continued to not appear, continued to be missing, Smokefur took quiet action. He visited Brightstar in her den, after she was finished sharing tongues with Waterpelt.

"Brightstar? I hope I'm not interrupting anything."

"Come in," she said softly. "How are you doing?"

"I'm…well. Worried about my family, because of the disappearance and what happened to Leafstar but…I'm sure we'll be safe."

"May StarClan watch over us all," Brightstar mewed grimly.

"Listen, about Windfang's apprentice."

"He is quite a pawful."

"I was thinking. If Windfang doesn't show up…"

Brightstar stared at him.

"I'd like to take over Robinpaw's training."


	3. show me all your bruises

THREE

"Smokefur, a moment?"

It was Speckledwing who crossed the camp to intercept Smokefur as he dropped fresh-kill onto the pile. At first he tensed, rapidly and wildly running any number of horrible reasons the medicine cat might be addressing him through his head because Speckledwing looked grave and concerned and his face was weary and frightful.

"What is it, Speckledwing?" Smokefur asked, as measured as he could.

"It's about Sunpaw. Try and stay calm, but could you come with me to my den for a moment?"

_Stay calm?_ Smokefur's stomach hardened and his skin turned cold. _Sunpaw? Was this a trap? Had Robinpaw squealed?_ He walked on stiff paws after Speckledwing, whose tail was lowered and ears swiveled backwards.

He smelled Sunpaw, Dawnleaf, and the faint scent of blood and the majority of Smokefur's fears were swept from his mind. Dawnleaf scrambled to her feet from where she was crouching beside a grassy nest. "Oh StarClan, Smokefur," she wept, pushing her nose into his neck fur. "It's Sunpaw."

"What happened?" Smokefur said loudly, prickling with alarm. He stalked over to the nest and saw Sunpaw lying on her side, eyes puffy and half-closed, her dark ginger coat smudged in drying blood. Her breath was fast, shallow and panicky.

"What happened?" Smokefur shouted again. "Sunpaw! What's wrong with her?!"

"Shh!" Speckledwing hissed. "I've given her a heavy dose of poppy seeds, she's on the nod now. Please, let her rest."

"But I want to know what happened," Smokefur said. His daughter, his beautiful daughter was lying in the shady den, in the grass, smelling like cobwebs and tangy blood. "I need to know what happened! Speckledwing!"

"We don't know yet," he whispered, still calm. Medicine cats had a way of staying calm even in the worst of situations. "Smokefur, she's going to be okay."

"I don't care if she's going to be okay, I need to know what happened to her! Who did this to her? Was she attacked?!"

"Dear," Dawnleaf begged, pawing at him. "Please. You'll disturb her. She needs her rest."

"Someone please tell me what happened," Smokefur asked desperately, but he did lower his voice. He crouched beside his mate and they took in Sunpaw together.

"She came to my den at moonhigh last night," Speckledwing muttered. "She was shaking and bleeding. She wasn't gravely injured, just scratched and bruised as if she'd been roughhoused. She wouldn't tell me what happened, she seemed afraid or shocked into silence. Right now she needs time to rest, and then we can try and ease out what happened to her."

"You think she was assaulted?" Dawnleaf squeaked, horrified.

"No," Smokefur snarled.

"I know you two are concerned parents, but we can't jump to any conclusions yet," Speckledwing mewed evenly. "As soon as she is ready to talk, we will find out what happened."

Smokefur and Dawnleaf spent the entire night at Sunpaw's side, watching her restless sleep, unable to sleep themselves. Dawnleaf whimpered continuously, face wrought with stress, and the two licked all remaining blood off of Sunpaw's shiny orange coat.

"What if it was ThunderClan cat?" Smokefur meowed grimly, late into the night.

"Then we'll find out who that cat was, and he'll be exiled," Dawnleaf replied, voice stony.

"Exiled? What if he found his way back? Who'll protect our daughter from him?"

"StarClan guides her path," Dawnleaf said, with complete faith. "They won't let this happen again."

Smokefur had to stand up to stretch his legs and get fresh air then. He pushed his way through the ferns of Speckledwing's den. "StarClan doesn't guide mine," he whispered to himself. "But you wouldn't understand that. Would you."

He didn't want to leave Sunpaw's side but Smokefur's heart was starting to race and he knew he needed solitude, silence and cold air on his black fur. He ran into the woods while the moon was high, he skimmed the forest floor, and he felt such tightening anger and hatred in his throat he couldn't breathe. He ran faster and faster. He dodged trees and leapt over felled logs and soared over brambles and kept trying to breathe but he couldn't. His dash ended at the lake, at his spot where the swollen logs had been gathered in the hollow at the edge of the bank and he stood panting and gasping, almost vomiting from how fast and breathlessly he had run.

How could anyone hurt his daughter? It was almost unfathomable for him. A father lives for his children. When Sunpaw had entered the world eight moons ago, a fuzzy orange bundle with giant gray blue eyes, everything Smokefur had found important shifted and suddenly, Sunpaw was the center of the universe. He'd named her Sunkit because of it. He woke up every morning for her, he lived for her, he hunted for her, everything he did had her protection in mind, her amber eyes, her sun-dappled coat, her innocence and how badly he wanted to create a good life for her, make the world a safe place she would be happy to live in. He feared the day she woke up unhappy.

But for Smokefur, there was no StarClan. StarClan had turned their back on him when he was an apprentice, so Smokefur had turned his back on them.

So he couldn't rely on StarClan to protect her, to protect anyone, not like Dawnleaf did. There was no StarClan watching his path, so he was certain there was no StarClan guarding Sunpaw's either, so the job of guarding and protecting was taken into Smokefur's paws instead.

Sunpaw was released from the medicine cat's den the next day by her own request. The Clan was still wracked by Windfang's disappearance and assumed death, so Brightstar kept what had happened to Sunpaw quiet. That was typical of sexual assault; it was almost too horrible, too beyond understanding to talk about. But it was the only thing on Smokefur's mind. In dreams he saw nothing but red and blood, and he woke gasping and filled to the brim with the knowledge that someone had hurt his daughter, someone had hurt his daughter and still walked free.

Sunpaw surrounded herself with friends. When she was in the camp she was constantly flanked by Robinpaw and Mosspaw, another apprentice. She was shaky and unstable, she often had to be lead into the apprentice's den and comforted. Brightstar exempted her from warrior training for several days, and when she did leave the camp it was with a large group of senior warriors. And Smokefur watched from the sidelines, he watched his daughter's bubbly, hopeful personality die. But still no culprit for what happened to her was revealed. Smokefur took matters into his own paws.

Speckledwing was keeping her on a low dose of poppy seeds to dim her fear and stress, keep her from having a meltdown episode. Smokefur tracked her into the medicine cat den where she was sitting in the shade, sucking on the poppy seeds. He waited for Speckledwing to step out before he spoke to her.

"Sunpaw, I can't bear to see you like this."

"Daddy, it's okay," she whimpered.

"I can see how scared you are. When you're scared, I'm scared. Your mother is scared. We can't sleep, we're so worried about you."

"I swear I'll be okay," she peeped fearfully, her fur trembling.

"You don't have to fake confidence around me, Sunpaw," he said gently. "I'm your dad. I'm on your side."

"Please, I just want everyone to stop asking about it. I want everything to go back to normal."

"How can we? How do you expect we do that when we see you walking around camp like a part of you has been murdered?"

"Because, dad. I need everyone to just forget about this."

"Well, I need to know who did this to you."

"Please no. Please just forget it."

"If you tell me you won't have to be scared of him anymore. We will find him and you won't have to live in fear."

"I can't tell you," Sunpaw looked right into his eyes. "Dad, I'm so sorry. He made me promise never to tell. He said he would kill me."

Smokefur could barely hear these words. He wanted so badly to tell her that if Sunpaw so much as mentioned the name of this horrible cat, his entrails would be strewn across the forest before she could so much as blink, that she could trust him above anyone in ThunderClan to protect her. But he couldn't. "I'm here to protect you," was all he could manage. "I'll do anything to protect you."

Leaving the medicine cat den, Smokefur passed Robinpaw who was entering to visit and comfort Sunpaw. Both toms froze, stiffened, stared straight into each other's eyes, but neither said a word.

It was the next day that Windfang was finally confirmed dead, that the Clan resigned to acceptance that she wasn't coming home, and it was then Brightstar called a Clan meeting and assigned Robinpaw as Smokefur's apprentice, just like he'd requested. As the two stood beneath the Highledge, Robinpaw stalked on stiff legs over to the waiting black tom, his eyes huge and terrified, his mouth cracked open in shock, glancing around at all of ThunderClan watching them, and when the two touched noses his was brief and shaky and fleeting and he refused to make eye contact with Smokefur.

Training began the following morning, but all Smokefur could think about was Sunpaw. Robinpaw followed him to the training hollow with his head down and tail dragging in the dirt.

"Did you take me all the way out here to kill me?" Robinpaw mewed with resigned exhaustion when the two arrived and stopped in the sandy hollow. "Just get it over with. I'm tired of you scaring me."

"I need you to tell me something," Smokefur said quietly.

"…"

"Who assaulted Sunpaw?"

Robinpaw looked right up at him. "What?"

"You know what I'm talking about," Smokefur snarled, stalking closer to him. "You're my daughter's best friend. I want you to tell me who assaulted her."

"I don't know."

"Yes you do. I understand why she won't tell me, I'm her dad and a senior warrior and everything. But you're just a delinquent apprentice and her closest friend. She must have mentioned something to you."

"I swear to StarClan, she hasn't," Robinpaw said, meeting his eyes.

"Here's what's going to happen, Robinpaw," Smokefur growled. "I'm going to get the name of whoever did this to her. And then I am going to murder them. I will make them suffer just like she is now. You want that cat to pay, don't you?"

"Of course," Robinpaw snapped. "It's _sick_, what he did. She's so scared and sad, all she does now is whimper and shake and she's constantly looking over her shoulder. She's not even fun anymore. She's just sad."

"So you want revenge on whoever did this to her just as much as I do, right?"

"Everyone in the Clan does."

"I know what you think of me," Smokefur said, stalking around the hollow. "I know you think I'm a twisted murderer. I know you think I'm a bad Clan cat. But now you can see that everything I do I do to protect the Clan, to protect my daughter from cats like whoever hurt her. And that's a good thing."

"Sure…"

"I want you to help me."

"What?!"

"I'm your mentor now, Robinpaw. I want to train you in my ways. You're a cat who takes risks, you're unafraid to venture into enemy territory, you're on the inside of things I can't access. You could help me. We could achieve justice together. Wouldn't you want that?"

"I don't know," Robinpaw said with serious ambivalence. "I'm not a murderer. I'm just an apprentice. And you know as well as I do that I'm hardly a fighter, and I'm bad at everything."

"But this is something you could be good at," Smokefur said slowly. "You could excel. You could be great. Imagine being better than any cat at something. Imagine how that would feel, knowing the power you secretly had. Imagine how great you would feel when cats laughed at you for being incompetent. Because they would never know…you were one of the most deadly cats in the Clan."

"But murder is wrong," Robinpaw mewed plaintively. "Even if you do it to protect ThunderClan, murdering a cat like you did to Leafstar in cold blood is wrong. Seriously, I still have nightmares about that. The _sounds_ she was making, mostly. I can't get them out of my head. And when I close my eyes, I see her body hanging. It looked so unnatural, you know? It just doesn't sit right with me."

"You could learn to see it differently," Smokefur said stonily. "Do you know how many times I have saved this Clan from impending danger? Do you know how many times I have got much needed revenge on cats that have done things similar to whoever assaulted Sunpaw? If the cat that did that to her was murdered, would that _not sit right with you_?"

"I guess it would sit right," he mumbled.

"You say you're bad at everthing, that you don't care about becoming a warrior. I see your apathy. I see how misdirected you are, Robinpaw. What you need is a focus, a direction. And I can give you that, and it's better than any direction you'll ever have."

"I need to think about it," Robinpaw said with a swallow. "I'd be throwing away so much to become the kind of cat you are."

"Oh really? What do you have to throw away? If you already consider yourself bad at everything?"

Robinpaw got to his feet. "Listen, just let me think about it, okay?"

"I need you to do something for me, Robinpaw," Smokefur insisted.

"I said, I don't know who assaulted Sunpaw. I'm telling you the truth. I really don't know."

"Then I need you to find out."

Robinpaw's eyes widened. His eyebrows rose.

"I need you to get Sunpaw to tell you. It's more likely she'll tell you than me. I need you to find out, and then tell me who that cat is so I can deal with him."

"I-I-"

"You have to understand, Robinpaw. She's my daughter. My daughter is my entire world. You must see that I can't go on living while a cat that would do such a horrible thing to her walks free."

"I get it," he mumbled.

"Do this for me," Smokefur whispered. "Please."  
-

Robinpaw became as heavy and weighed down as Sunpaw. Smokefur watched him and every single day asked him if he'd found out yet. Robinpaw said he was working on it, but tried to get away from Smokefur as quickly as he could. His eyes turned dark and jaded. He walked with tension in his shoulders, his head lowered and his tail down.

He seemed almost hopeless when he finally delivered the news Smokefur was craving. He was eating a shrew beside the fresh-kill pile, crunching on bones, when Robinpaw swept silently across camp and picked up a mouse from beside where Smokefur was eating.

"Rednose," he said almost silently, and then carried on his way with the mouse hanging in his jaws.

Rednose was a ThunderClan cat. Smokefur stopped chewing. He raised his head. On the other side of camp, under the shadow of the Highledge beside Brightstar and a couple senior warriors, Rednose was eating and laughing and talking loudly with them. He was a young warrior, only given his warrior name three or four moons ago, with a reddish-ginger pelt and green eyes. A talkative, confident cat, a decent hunter and regarded as a superb friend.

Smokefur finished his bite of shrew and swallowed. He got up and padded straight over to where Rednose was sitting and talking noisily.

"Waterpelt's got us on evening patrol," Smokefur told him. "ShadowClan border."

"Oh?" Rednose licked his chops. "Well, that's great. Hahaha. Right at dinner time, huh buddy?"

Smokefur didn't laugh or smile. Rednose seemed a little unnerved, but still dismissed himself from his friends and followed Smokefur out of camp. Smokefur padded quickly, without a word. Rednose was a noisy breather and his pawsteps were noisy too. Twice he tried to spark up conversation, but both times Smokefur refused to engage him whatsoever.

"Hey," Rednose as they passed the training hollow and headed for WindClan territory instead of ShadowClan. "ShadowClan's that way."

"Is it?"

"Yeah, it's totally behind us. Didn't Waterpelt put us on the ShadowClan border?"

"Waterpelt didn't put us anywhere," Smokefur said without turning to look at Rednose following him at all. "I am going to kill you, Rednose. I'm going to leave each of your limbs in a different part of our territory."

He heard Rednose's pawsteps stop behind him, and Smokefur slowly stopped too and turned around as if he was bored by this.

"What's going on?" Rednose mewed with alarm.

"I want you to say my name, Rednose. I want you to tell me exactly who I am."

"…Smokefur?"

"Who am I?" he whispered.

"I'm sorry, I don't – I don't know what you're asking."

"Who's father am I, Rednose?"

"…." But his eyes widened and his fur prickled.

"Say it."

"I -"

"Say her name."

"…Sunpaw."

"Here's what's going to happen, Rednose. I am going to kill you so slowly and painfully that you're forced to watch and endure every minute of it. You're not going anywhere. You're not going to scream, but if you do, nobody will come for you. If you try and fight me, I will break your paws. I am stronger than you. I am faster than you. Does that make sense?"

Rednose turned and ran. He sprinted. He kicked up dirt and left reddish fur hovering in the air in his attempt to flee. Smokefur was on him in an instant, bowled him over and kicked him into the trunk of a tree. He collapsed at the base of it. Smokefur stomped on his paws to hold him there.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Rednose wailed. "I'm sorry, I'll never do it again, I'll go apologize to her right now, I'm so sorry, please don't kill me! Don't kill me!"

"You're not going near Sunpaw ever again," Smokefur snarled. "You're not going to look at her. You're not even going to think about her."

"Don't kill me! I'm sorry!"

Smokefur kicked him as hard as he could. Rednose crumpled, wheezing and gasping. "StarClan," he begged. "Help me. Save me, StarClan."

Smokefur felt what was almost a kick of his own, a kick of raw pain and his chest tightened and for a moment he was all alone in the forest, in the world, in his entire life, that it was only him watching out for himself and it would always be that way. "There is no StarClan," he said painfully. "They aren't coming for you."

He beat Rednose to death. He pounded his body into the ground, he threw him into trees, he pummeled him with his paws, claws sheathed to prolong his painful end, he crushed his skull against a sharp rock and when the ginger tom was finally done with, his body was mangled beyond recognition. Smokefur clamped his teeth around what was once his scruff and dragged him down to the lake, tripping over Rednose's broken, dangling legs, and although he was so blinded by hatred and rage that he was suffocating on it, as Smokefur pushed his body into the water he was choking, there was pressure behind his eyes. There was blood and ginger fur all over his pelt, and he was overwhelmed by emotion.

He cleaned himself. He cleaned the scene of the murder, which was strewn with clumps of dirt, blood and fur. He disguised both of their scents with fox dung. Calm, organized, going through the motions.

Rednose's body was found the next day. The Clan tried to make sense of it, adding it to the so recent deaths of Windfang and Leafstar. His body was too mangled and grotesque to hold a vigil, so he was buried in private by two of the senior warriors, and then the Clan gathered that night to mourn. Sunpaw shook at Dawnleaf's side but Smokefur could see the relief in her eyes and that was enough for him. That was enough. The horrific scene that had taken place in the forest yesterday was okay because Sunpaw's amber eyes shone with relief.

Watching from the apprentice's den was Robinpaw. Smokefur spied him. His eyes were enormous and filled with shock and horror as he stared at the mourning cats, heard their murmurs of grief and fear. Smokefur approached him.

"It was me," Robinpaw whispered.

"What?"

"I caused this. I caused all this pain."

Smokefur looked at him for a long time, digesting Robinpaw's gloomy sentiment. "_I_ killed him," he said darkly. "_I_ murdered him, it was all me."

"But I named him," Robinpaw choked. "I told you it was Rednose that assaulted Sunpaw."

"And Sunpaw is safe now," Smokefur mumbled. "Rednose's death is on my paws…he deserved what he got, Robinpaw."

Robinpaw just stared at the grieving cats for a long time. Smokefur stared at him, at his patches of black and white fur, his wide yellow eyes, his soft, kitten like whiskers. He was still so young.

"Alright, I'll help you," Robinpaw muttered.

"You will?"

"I already caused all this," he said brokenly. "How much worse can I get?"

**Thanks to everyone who's been reading and reviewing! Your feedback really keeps me going. I hope you're enjoying Smoked Out so far. One of my goals with this story is to explore multidimensional characters and what makes someone bad or good. What do you think? What kind of cat do you think Smokefur is? What do you think will happen to him and Robinpaw? **


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